Boffa (surname)

Boffa is a surname of Italian origin, believed to have been a nickname for a person who suffered from shortness of breath, or breathed rapidly or heavily. The Boffa name is believed to have arrived in Malta in the late 16th Century with a reference from 1602 to a marriage in parish records of St Lawrence in the town of Birgu. The name is still not very common in Malta and did not appear in the Status Animarum of 1687. The name is believed to have originated in the town of Viggiano in the province of Potenza in southern Italy, where it still appears in official records. From Viggiano and Malta, the name has spread to the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA.
People with the surname Boffa include:

Ernest Joseph Boffa, a Canadian bush pilot
Giuseppe Boffa, Italian journalist, historian and politician
Menato Boffa, an Italian racing driver
Sir Paul Boffa, OBE, Prime Minister of Malta
Stefania Boffa, a Swiss tennis player